J/S update

On By SeanIn Johnson-Su Demonstration FarmLeave a comment

unfortunately the chimney air ducts collapsed inside this Johnson-Su bioreactor i had going at Downsview Park this summer, but nonetheless the material looks pretty good for 7 months in since it was built (mostly leaves with kitchen scraps and cocoa shells, plus some woodchip)….. i’ll let it finish over the winter and apply it directly to the soil in the spring.

Core principles

On By SeanIn Compost Education Centre, Johnson-Su Demonstration Farm, Landrace Squash Breeding Project, Lunar Garden and Permaculture SpaceLeave a comment

i am in the middle of writing a formal business plan for Crooked Farmz, which i haven’t had to do before, have just sort of been winging a lot of it but the exercise has been a good one so far as it forces you to examine some things more closely……

anyways, one of those things is “Core Principles”, which i haven’t really thought through before…. here’s what i wrote:

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Biodiversity.

Biodiversity is the first word that guides everything we hope to accomplish in trying to improve soil health. To this end we pay attention to diverse composting techniques, plant polycultures, native pollinator species, soil food web observations, landrace seed saving, thresholds of least intervention, positive feedback loops, and edge effects.

Green Economy Leadership.

Climate change demands movement away from traditional business practices into more environmentally-sustainable alternatives. Leadership in these new practices will emerge as much from grassroots entrepreneurship as it will from large corporations: we seek economies that are circular, reciprocal, zero waste, and low carbon.

Benefits Maximization.

The first phrase you learn in an MBA program is ‘profit maximization’, and if there’s anything most crooked about Crooked Farmz, it’s the approach taken to this phrase: work within a business context, don’t maximize profit, but maximize benefits for everyone, including ecologies and more-than-human relations.

Learning/Unlearning.

Crooked Farmz is continually in the process of learning about agricultural history, composting technique, agroecology, regenerative farming, and more. In turn we share information about these topics on an ongoing basis. Meanwhile we are always attempting to ‘unlearn’ land-based settler-colonial practices and move toward right relations.

Care for Land and Water.

The lands on which we work as Crooked Farmz are governed by the Dish With One Spoon wampum, which bound several Indigenous nations to share the territory and protect the land and water. As a settler working with composting and soil health, it is important to likewise endeavour to protect the land and water and respect these obligations. Mni wiconi – Water is life.

2023 season report

On By SeanIn Landrace Squash Breeding ProjectLeave a comment

as Lofthouse predicts in his book Landrace Gardening, the squash plants will bear a lot of stress in the first season and generally not do very well…… but that after saving the seed that does survive, one begins along the path to a landrace variety of more adaptability and resilience.

generally speaking, my squash plants were very weak overall…. i suspect not only for the environmental stressors mentioned by Lofthouse, but also due to breaking ground on a very new clay space and planting into a compost layer with potentially high salt content. …. i also suspect a second year of working the same space will help alleviate some of these concerns.

kojinut was essentially the best performer (thank you Lady Cone Hop Yard!!), with a few really nice squash that tasted great…. these seeds have been saved. …. the two fruit on the left in the top photo above were practically dropped by the plant, only immature seed inside. ….. overall though, i trust that replanting what was saved, plus some additional genetic diversity in the form of new seeds (some from a landrace squash breeder who is a member of EFAO), and we’ll seek better results in 2024.